11-Natalie

          „I would like to wish a warm welcome to every winner right here that’s with us! Without any farther hesitation I will now proceed to telling you the rules of the Oxygen game!“, the female voice said from the speakers, „Well, now... The rules of this game are simple! Do you see that row of those iron machines in front of you – oh why am I asking you this, you’re not blind (I hope so)!! Anyway, the entire game will be played inside those iron cabins! As you can see each cabin is connected to the other two, except for the cabins at the end of each side, which are only connected to 1 cabin next to it.“

          As she was talking I took a closer look at the cabins. They were a bit rounded at the top, but they mostly looked like a toilet cabin... They were coloured a dark yellow-ish colour, and they, as I read in the Linda’s message, had 1 big front door. They were about 2 meters tall and 1x1 meters wide, barely enough for a human being to stand there! I wonder if we’ll have to stand inside there the entire game?

          „As you can probably guess, you will stay inside these cabins for the duration of the game!“, fucking dicks, „Now I want to ask all you winners, to ENTER THE CABINS!!“

          Just as we heard that I felt a guard push me. When I turned around I saw Michael. I looked around me for a bit and saw that there were at least 50 guards all over the room! They all went behind one of the players and pushed them forward.

          *CLICK!!* - a loud clicking sound echoed through the entire floor! All of the doors on the machines have opened. We were pushed inside them. Just as we got inside, the same loud sound echoed once again, and the doors closed all at the same time. I looked around the cabin. There were 2 small speakers inside, as well as those 2 very small round doors on each side. Other than that the cabin was empty. Because it was so small, it felt quite claustrophobic being inside.

          „Well, now that all of the 47 winners are inside the cabins, we can continue with the rules! As you can see, to your right and left are 2 small doors that connect your cabin to the next 2 cabins! You can open any of the doors at any time you want. Now about the goal of the game: open the front door before you run out of oxygen! There are 2 ways of opening the front door: the first one is to bypass the passcode by entering the right 5 digits! The combination is the same for everyone. The first two digits are hidden somewhere in the cabin! Once you enter a combination, press the small button next to the mechanical lock. If the combination is right, the door will unlock with a loud click. If it’s wrong, the mechanical lock will reset. The second way is to wait for 2 hours. The front doors will open after 2 hours.“

          I see... so I need to look for the 2 hidden numbers in the cabin, and I gotta get lucky on guessing the other 3. I could see the mechanic 5 digit lock where we needed to enter the passcode to open the front door. But what the hell is up with the other option? Now we wait for the twist-

          „BUT! The cabin is ’alive’ you can say...“

          Aaaand here it is-wait what the fuck? Alive?

          „This means that the cabin, just like YOU, the players, breathe. The only difference between you and the cabin is that is uses slightly more Oxygen than you do! But don’t worry, you can always see how much Oxygen you have left on the screen.“

          When I looked closer at the inside of the cabin, I saw a tiny black screen that melted perfectly with the top of the front door. It was about 10*8 cm. Will we be able to see how much liters of Oxygen we have left inside the cabin?

          „Now there’s another thing you shall know... The first person to exit the cabin will have their exit fee removed! This means that whoever wins this game first can walk home with no charges for exiting in the middle of the games.“, the voice added.

          WHAT? This is a huge reward! If... If I somehow win this... even if Boris and Axel do tell about my cheating, I will still walk out with a profit, since I won’t have to pay the exit fee for being disqualified! This also gives me the freedom to exit whenever I want! I gotta win this!

          „With all of that said, I wish you good luck! May the best survive.“, the speakers turned off.

          „W-WAIT! WHAT ABOUT THE DOORS ON THE SIDE!“, I heard the Moustache-Man yell from somewhere. „YOU DIDN’T EXPLAIN SHIT!!“

          „Sir, calm down or I will have to warn you! “, I heard Jack’s voice.

          *BZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTT * we heard all the machines turn on. The digital tiny screen came to life. It... showed a number? A 2-digit number? This couldn’t be right... I might not know chemistry, but in this room there shouldn’t be only 99 liters of Oxygen.

          Wait... 99? OH! This screen showed us what percentage of Oxygen we got left in the cabin! At the corner of the screen there was a timer.

          -1:58:57-

          This was how much until the front door open automatically. But I gotta exit before that! I gotta unlock this door before anyone else does! I gotta get that reward! I started looking for the 2 numbers that were supposed to be hidden somewhere in this small cabin. Now that I started turning and looking around the cabin I realized just how tiny this cabin is... It was so uncomfortable just to stand still, let alone move inside it! To think that we could be stuck here for 2 whole hours! Anyways just as I started searching I noticed something. The number changed. It showed 98 now. I looked in confusion. I glanced at the timer. It’s only been about 2 and a half minutes since the game started! If we count the time we listened to the announcer, it couldn’t have been more than 5 minutes total! And the machine started breathing after the announcer finished telling us the rules... Oh God... I looked back at the timer. 3 minutes and 16 seconds passed. The number had just switched to 97. Oh my God... This machine... It was throwing the Oxygen out so fast! Now I know how someone can lose this game that, seemingly, is guaranteed to be won... People use a lot of Oxygen... not just by breathing... but by moving too! If we were alone in this isolated room we could probably survive for at least 4 or 5 hours... maybe even more... but with this machine... With this machine constantly throwing out Oxygen we can barely last 2 hours... That’s not all. Moustache-Man was right... We never got the meaning of the side doors. Why were they there? Why could we open them at any time we want? When I looked closer at them there were two tiny LED light bulbs, like those you see on Christmas trees. They were both turned off. What did that mean? They really explained only the basis. The rest we needed to figure out ourselves.

          This game might be easier than the last one because you don’t need chemistry knowledge... But this is a far, far more terrifying game...

          I kept looking for the hidden numbers. While I was looking I could hear the other 2 people that were in cabins next to me. They were also moving. Tho, the one in the left cabin seemed to move much less then the one in the right cabin. Now that I think about it, I was too shocked from Boris to notice who is in the cabins next to me. Anyways I kept looking, I didn’t have to find out right away, right? I looked everywhere, up, right, left, front, back. Nothing. No signs of any numbers. Was that a lie? No... as unfair as these games are, I don’t think they would intentionally put a fake rule. Tho I might be wrong, who knows...

          The person in the right cabin stopped for a moment. „Yess!“, I heard a female voice. „Y-You found it, too?“, I lied.

          Pause.

          With a hesitation she replied: „Uh-huh.“

          Hmmm, I gotta make her to open up a little. I gotta find out where the numbers are!

          „K-Ken?“, I heard a familiar voice coming from the left cabin. „JOSH?!“, I said a bit too loud. But what could I do, I was surprised! I’m luckyyyy!! „Oh thanks God!“, he said. „W-We can work together once again, r-right?“, he asked almost too quietly, I could barely hear him from the thick walls of the connected cabins. In any case, this was a relief.

          „Josh, listen, if you find the numbers tell me where they are!“

          „So you didn’t find them?“, I heard that girl from the right cabin. „BUMMER!!“, she yelled. „I hoped we could... maybe share our numbers?“, she said. „I-I mean only if you agree of course! That would save both mine and your time! If we have the same numbers then we know they gave the same two numbers to everyone. If we have different numbers that means they gave different numbers to everybody. There’s also the problem of which place exactly are the numbers at? Since there are 5 digits, and everybody gets 2, surely they wouldn’t make it so that we know where the given digits go, since that would basically be the same as putting a 3 digit lock and giving no hints. Actually... these 2 digits they give... that might as well be the worst part of the entire game!“, that girl spat out all at once!

          „........ wow.......“, she left me speechless... This girl... This girl was smart. Unlike Josh and I she was actually smart!! „W-What’s your-“

          „Natalie. My name is Natalie.“, she replied before I asked her. „You’re Ken, and the guy next to you is Josh, if I got the names right.“

          „Y-Yes.“, I said. I was so shocked, like-WOW!! This girl... If we become allies-BUT! But both of us want to open the front doors first so-

          *CLICK * - we heard a loud click, like on the beginning of the game.

          „CONGRATULATIONS TO DAMYAN SAMAEL FOR BEING THE FIRST TO EXIT THE CABINS!! You can now exit at any time and will be free of charge! “, we heard the announcer... I looked at the watch.

          -1:50:09-

          This was impossible! This guy... He opened the doors with a five digit lock... in less than 10 minutes! This man... Damyan Samael... just who is he?

          „Natalie... Listen-“, I started.

          „I know what you want. Since that Damyan guy already opened the front door first, he took the prize, so there’s so benefit in not helping each other at this point. Am I right?“, she asked proudly.

          „Woah-you... Yeah...“, This girl kept surprising me. That was exactly what I had on mind!

          „So let me guess once more: You want me to tell the two of you where the numbers are, and then you plan that all three of us share what numbers we got, that way we will come up with a solution much faster then if we worked alone.“, she said fast but clear.

          „Yes.“, I replied. „And I got a way for us to be sure that nobody lies about their numbers.“

          „Really?“, she asked curiously.

          „Yes... It’s quite simple.“, I said and smirked, even tho we were in separate cabins I couldn’t help it. „We open the small doors! What else are they there for?!“, I laughed.

          „Smart.“, she said. „Except... there is another reason I think they’re there for...“, she hesitated.

          „What do you mean?“

          „Look at your Oxygen percentage and the timer.“

          I did that. The time said 1:47:47 and the percentage...

          „91.“, I said.

          „Well, you see... mine says 93.“, she said. How was that the case? Did my cabin ’breathe’ faster than hers? „Men use more Oxygen than women do.“, she said. Of course... I’m stupid for not realizing that earlier...

          „So what you mean is... if both of us agree to open the door on the side... we will share the Oxygen?“

          „Exactly. Now, because it is only the start of the game I will lose 1 and you will gain 1 percent. But if we came up with this strategy later... well... I would never agree to it, since I, as a woman, would lose much more Oxygen from my cabin.“

          So if that’s how it is... Then! I opened the door on the right side. One of the 2 small LED lamps lit up. I was right! This was not 1 door. It was 2!! One in my cabin, and 1 in the cabin next to me! Both of us needed to open the side doors in order for our cabins to ’connect’. „Natalie.“, I said.

          „I will open it, okay. But first... tell me how will you make sure we don’t lie about the two numbers we got.“, she said. She was careful, unlike Linda. I liked that.

          „Ok, so first you gotta tell me where to find the two numbers. Then, once we open the side doors we might be able to look at where the numbers are in the other cabin... Of course, that relies on whether or not the numbers are in a visible place from the small doors.“, the opening was just big enough for a person to peek in the other cabin. Basically the idea was, we open the doors and peek to see the numbers in the other cabin. Of course, this would not be possible if the numbers are, for example, on one of the sides, in which case only 1 of us would be able to see the numbers in the opposite cabin. Or if, for example, the numbers weren’t in the same spot in each cabin. This would, on the other hand, mean that it is very unlikely for both cabins’s numbers to be in a visible spot for the other person.

          In other words my plan depended on where the numbers are hidden!

          „I see...“, she said, „You’re smart. We can team up! We can win this if we work together!“

          Bingo.